Embodiments relate to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same.
A semiconductor device may include a semiconductor substrate with high-density and low-density junction regions isolated from each other about a channel region. A semiconductor device may further include a gate insulating layer and a gate electrode that may be sequentially formed on the channel region. A spacer may be formed on sidewalls of the gate insulating layer and the gate electrode while existing on the low-density junction region. A gap fill oxidation may be formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate and may have a contact hole thereon. A metal interconnection may be electrically connected to the high-density junction region of the semiconductor substrate through the contact hole.
The spacer may be used to form the low-density junction region and to isolate adjacent gate electrodes from each other. This may prevent a punchthrough from being produced in a semiconductor device due to a short channel effect that may occur as a length of a channel is reduced due to the high level of integration of the semiconductor device.
Such a spacer may be formed by depositing a spacer insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode and performing an etch-back process.
However, the spacer insulating layer may be deposited at a high temperature, for example of about 800° C. Therefore, dopants formed on a semiconductor substrate may be diffused into a channel region and a short channel effect may occur. Accordingly, operational characteristics of a semiconductor device may be degraded.
Further, since it may be difficult to control a region of the spacer through a related art etch-back process, the spacer formed on a sidewall of a gate electrode may have a broad width. Moreover, it may be difficult to adjust a width of the related art spacer. Accordingly, since an isolation space between adjacent gate electrodes may be reduced due to the broad width of the spacer, an interior of a gap between the gate electrodes may not be sufficiently filled with an oxidation film. Voids may therefore occur. Such voids may degrade the reliability of a semiconductor device because they may induce a leakage current when driving the semiconductor device.